On this day in television history - Blade Runner: Black Lotus (2021):

Blade Runner: Black Lotus

Season 1. Episode 7.

Episode entitled: Reality.

Released December 19, 2021.

Developed by Kenji Kamiyama, Shinji Aramaki.

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, Shinji Aramaki.

Written by Brandon Auman, Margaret Dunlap, Eugene Son, Alex de Campi.

Based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

Opening theme: Feel You Now by Alessia Cara.

Music by Michael Hodges, Gerald Trottman.

Cast:

Jessica Henwick, Will Yun Lee, Brian Cox, Wes Bentley, Samira Wiley, Henry Czerny, Ely Henry, Laura Post, Keith Ferguson, Shinshû Fuji, Takaya Hashi, Takako Honda, Takehito Koyasu, Tony Nakajima, Akio Nojima, Arisa Shida.

On this day in movie history - Open Your Eyes (1997):

Open Your Eyes

Spanish title: Abre los ojos,

directed by Alejandro Amenábar,

written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil,

was released in Spain on December 19, 1997.
Music by Alejandro Amenábar and Mariano Marín.

Cast:

Eduardo Noriega, Penelope Cruz, Chete Lera, Fele Martinez, Najwa Nimri, Gerard Barray, Jorge de Juan, Miguel Palenzuela, Pedro Miguel Martinez, Ion Gabella, Joserra Cadiñanos, Tristan Ulloa, Pepe Navarro, Jaro, Walter Prieto, Carola Angulo, Fanny Gautier, Luis Garcia, Javier Martin, Jose Angel Egido, Ricardo Cruz, Raul Otegui, Pepe (cat), Alejandro Amenábar, Luis Fernandez de Eribe, Isabel Serrano.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 6. Episode 11.

Episode entitled: Chain Of Command, Part II.

Released December 19, 1992.

Directed by Les Landau.

Written by Frank Abatemarco, Brannon Braga, René Echevarria, Naren Shankar.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jay Chattaway.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Ronny Cox, John Durbin, David Warner, Heather Lauren Olson, Majel Barrett, Michael Braveheart, Cameron, Tracee Cocco, Eben Ham, Melanie Hathorn, Christi Haydon, Mic Rodgers, Michael Tierney.

On this day in movie history - No Mercy (1986):

No Mercy

directed by Richard Pearce,

written by Jim Carabatsos,

was released in the United States on December 19, 1986.
Music by Alan Silvestri.

Cast:

Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Jeroen Krabbé, George Dzundza, Gary Basaraba, William Atherton, Terry Kinney, Bruce McGill, Ray Sharkey, Marita Geraghty, Aleta Mitchell, Fred Gratton, Dionisio, Ray Brown, Kim Chan, George Dickerson, Raynor Scheine, Carl Gordon, Victoria Edwards, Annalee Jefferies, Ed Nakamoto, John Snyder, Caris Corfman, Pearl Jones, John Schluter, Mike Bacarella, Charles S. Dutton, Harold Evans, Dave Petitjean, Stephen Payne, Leon Rippy, Bill Hart, Thomas Rosales Jr., Randall Trepagnier, Rogers G. Martin, Murphy Taylor, Alvin D. Bailey Sr., Nat Elmore, Joan Duvalle, Shelton Magee, Khon Reid, Helen Yu-shin McKay, Beau Holden, Robert J. Maxwell, Ely Pouget, Valarie Trapp.

On this day in movie history - Platoon (1986):

Platoon

directed and written by Oliver Stone,

was released in the United States on December 19, 1986.
Music by Georges Delerue.
Main theme: Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.

Cast:

Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Reggie Johnson, Mark Moses, Corey Glover, Johnny Depp, Chris Pedersen, Bob Orwig, Corkey Ford, David Neidorf, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Richard Edson, Tony Todd, Kevin Eshelman, James Terry McIlvain, J. Adam Glover, Ivan Kane, Paul Sanchez, Dale Dye, Peter Hicks, Basile Achara, Steve Barredo, Chris Castillejo, Andrew B. Clark, Bernardo Manalili, Than Rogers, Li Thi Van, Clarisa Ortacio, Romy Sevilla, Mathew Westfall, Nick Nicholson, Warren McLean, Li Mai Thao, Ron Barracks, H. Gordon Boos, Brad Cassini, John Denny, Mark Ebenhoch, Robert 'Rock' Galotti, Ken Glover, Eric Hahn, Berto Spoor, Oliver Stone, Henry Strzalkowski.

On this day in movie history - Raging Bull (1980 movie & book):

Raging Bull

directed by Martin Scorsese,

written by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin,

based on the book Raging Bull: My Story by Jake LaMotta, Peter Savage and Joseph Carter,

was released in the United States on December 19, 1980.
Main theme music: Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni.

Cast:

Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto, Theresa Saldana, Mario Gallo, Frank Adonis, Joseph Bono, Frank Topham, Lori Anne Flax, Charles Scorsese, Don Dunphy, Bill Hanrahan, Rita Bennett, James V. Christy, Bernie Allen, Floyd Anderson, Gene LeBell, Harold Valan, Victor Magnotta, Johnny Barnes, John Thomas, Kenny Davis, Paul Carmello, Jimmy Lennon Sr., Bobby Rings, Kevin Mahon, Marty Denkin, Shay Duffin, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Dick Whittington, Jack Lotz, Kevin Breslin, Louis Raftis, Frank Shain, Coley Wallace, Fritzie Higgins, George Latka, Fred Dennis, Robert B. Loring, Johnny Turner, Vern De Paul, Chuck Hassett, Ken Richards, Peter Fain, Billy Varga, Harvey Parry, Ted Husing, Michael Badalucco, Thomas Beansy Lobasso, Paul Forrest, Peter Petrella, Sal Serafino Tomassetti, Geraldine Smith, Mardik Martin, Maryjane Lauria, Linda Artuso, Peter Savage, Daniel P. Conte, Joe Malanga, Sabine Turco Jr., Steve Orlando, Silvio García Jr., John Arceri, Joseph A. Morale, James Dimodica, Robert Uricola, Andrea Orlando, Allan Malamud, D.J. Blair, Laura James, Richard McMurray, Mary Albee, Lisa Katz, Candy Moore, Richard A. Berk, Theodore Saunders, Noah Young, Nick Trisko, Lou Tiano, Bob Evan Collins, Wally K. Berns, Allen Joseph, Bob Aaron, Glenn Leigh Marshall, Martin Scorsese, Joseph Bergmann, Scott Crawford, Dennis Crosswhite, Robert Dahdah, Bruno DiGiorgi, Marty Farrell, Bobby Giordano, R. Michael Givens, Charles Guardino, Bob Harks, Chuck Hicks, Michael Charles Hill, Leonard B. John, Walt La Rue, Angelo Lamonea, David LeBell, Tony Lip, Bill Mazer, Thomas Murphy, Dennis O'Neill, Gil Perkins, Gene Poe, Jerry Schram, Glenn Stanton, John Turturro, McKenzie Westmore, Jimmy Williams.

Recommended reading:

Raging Bull: My Story

By Jake LaMotta, Peter Savage and Joseph Carter.

Introduction by Nick Tosches.

Filmed as Raging Bull (1980), directed by Martin Scorsese.

First published 1970.

Published by Da Capo Press.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0306808080

ISBN-13: 978-0306808081

Description:

Meet Jake LaMotta: thief, rapist, killer. Raised in the Bronx slums, he fought on the streets, got sent to reform school, and served time in prison. Trusting no one, slugging everyone, he beat his wife, his best friends, even the mobsters who kept the title just out of reach. But the same forces that made him a criminal – fear, rage, jealousy, self-hate, guilt – combined with his drive and intelligence to make him a winner in the ring. At age twenty-seven, after eight years of fighting, he became Middleweight Champion of the World, a hero to thousands. Then, at the peak of success, he fell apart and began a swift, harrowing descent into nightmare. Raging Bull, the Bronx Bull's brutally candid memoir, tells it all – fights, jails, sex, money – surpassing, in hard-hitting prose, even the movie that immortalized it.

On this day in movie history - A Clockwork Orange (1971 movie & novel):

A Clockwork Orange

directed by Stanley Kubrick,
based on the 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess,

premiered in Canada on December 19, 1971.

Music by Wendy Carlos.

Cast:

Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive, Adrienne Corri, Carl Duering, Paul Farrell, Clive Francis, Michael Gover, Miriam Karlin, James Marcus, Aubrey Morris, Godfrey Quigley, Sheila Raynor, Madge Ryan, Anthony Sharp, Philip Stone, Michael Tarn, David Prowse, Carol Drinkwater, Steven Berkoff, Margaret Tyzack, Pauline Taylor.

Recommended reading:

A Clockwork Orange

By Anthony Burgess.

Filmed in 1971 by Stanley Kubrick.

First published 1962.

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0393341763

ISBN-13: 978-0393341768

Description:

One of Esquire's 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time.

“A brilliant novel.… [A] savage satire on the distortions of the single and collective minds.” – New York Times.

In Anthony Burgess’s influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends’ intense reaction against their society. Dazzling and transgressive, A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom. This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition, and Burgess’s introduction, “A Clockwork Orange Resucked.”